page_title: NGC 4636
section_title: Molecular gas
hierarchical_section_title: NGC 4636 / Characteristics / Molecular gas
caption_attribution_description: English: NGC 4636 - Hubble Space Telescope - Hubble Legacy Archive
context_page_description: NGC 4636 is an elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It is located at a distance of circa 55 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 4636 is about 105,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on February 23, 1784. NGC 4636 lies one and a half degrees southwest of Delta Virginis. It can be viewed through a telescope at a ×23 magnification as a bright oval glow. It is part of the Herschel 400 Catalogue.
context_section_description: When imaged in CO(2–1) there appear molecular clouds in NGC 4636. Cloud 1 is not associated with detectable optical emission and is out of the dust extinction map field of view, while cloud 2 is centered on a dust absorption knot and aligned with a ridge in the optical line emission map. The faint NGC 4636 ALMA continuum is in good agreement with the expected emission from cold dust, which would indicate that the dust content of NGC 4636 is fairly centrally located. The associated total molecular mass is 2.6×10⁵ M☉.
  The ultraviolet emission of NGC 4636 exhibits O vi emission, which is a tracer of gas cooling. The measured emission indicates a cooling rate of 0.3 M⊙ yr−1. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) emission was detected at 11.3 and 17 μm, as well as [Ne ii], [Ne iii], and [S iii] lines in the center of NGC 4636 (within re/8) using the Spitzer IRS. The far infrared emission of the galaxy, as observed by the Infrared Space Observatory is 50 times more than expected based on stellar emission alone. This strongly suggests that there is dust, probably accreted in a recent merger with a gas-rich galaxy. Hα observations reveal the presence of warm (T ~ 104 K) ionized gas in the inner kpc of NGC 4636. Spectra of this gas indicate irregular motion, with a typical velocity of 150–200 km/s. Hα maps of the galaxy core show the presence of a cavity in the distribution of the ionized gas encircled by a dense shell located at a distance of ~400 pc from the center. Again, the most plausible explanation is gas expansion caused by AGN activity.
  In NGC 4636, the [C ii] emission extends to a radius of ~1 kpc and is centrally peaked. The velocities inferred from the [C ii] line are consistent with those measured for the Hα line. Finally, NGC 4636 has an excess of cold dust, approximately cospatial with the ionized and molecular gas. As above, this dust is expected be embedded in cold gas, to be protected against rapid sputtering. The extended dust distribution originates from the ejection of cold gas by AGN activity 10 Myr ago.
caption: NGC 4636 by Hubble Space Telescope
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